I use mine for hunting and rec riding. Use sometimes for utility, I plow snow with it, does good at that, I can put a deer on rack and haul out of woods, can take to my favorite fishing spot on river. Anything that can get you away from civ is worth the money. My quad has everything I need no improvements needed here.

 

Just thought of something else that would help...

Almost every utility quad I've seen has a frame that acts like a bucket whenever you go riding. Where the skid plate meets the the frame rails there is usually some sort of 'lip' that catches everything in sight(leaves, stickes, mud....especially mud) . Trying to clean all of this crap out can be a chore too...The hose is worthless because everthing catches on that 'lip' and will not budge. I usually end up having to reach in with my wet bare hands to remove a stubborn glob of mud(this is not fun when the temp drops below 30).

Solution: design a frame that does not have that lip. Make it flat, or curved....whatever you want, just get rid of that lip.


SprtsMNFan

 

I took a diffrent approach,
as a land surveyor I use the quad for setting up backsites, hauling the instrument,tripod, flag stakes, 2 prisim poles, hammers, hubs, rod tripod, rebar, radios, shovels, and other small items from place to place. I do this by putting 2 4' long sections of 8" pvc pipe on the front rack, rod tripod goes in one, instrument tripod in the other, instrument sets on top of this on a piece of plywood screwed into the tubes, then gets bungeed down, for the rear a 5' long 4" pvc tube holds the backsite prisim pole, 5' 8" pvc tube holds flag stakes, rebar, machete, hammers, signs, another 5' 8" pvc tube holds the foresite rod, with prism attached, on top of this is plywood which holds a cooler for carring files, radios, field books, etc. strapped on the tubes are backpacks for small items, a canvas bag hanging from the rear works well for carrying hubs, and paint.

needless to say, I wanted a LOT of rack capacity, both in terms of weight & space..I wanted a flat long seat, that the racks (rear) could overlap into. I wanted rear power outlet to run a strobe light off of. & I wanted a VISIBLE color, yellow would be the best choice, then red. I wanted an automatic, liquid cooled machine that would run at least 50 mph loaded. I wanted a locking 4x4, with shaft drive, and good brakes, I wanted something stable that had good manners, quiet, but when I am working along a road, I needed to be able to move fairl quickly if need be, (I spend a lot of time picking my way through property, and just as much time running at 30 mph picking up backsites & setting up the instrument, and locating corners, edges of tree lines, ground shots, etc.. so far 370 miles, 123 hours of use. a lot of the time it is idling while I am taking a shot, sometimes I turn it off if I am going to be there a while.

Irs was not that big of a selling feature for me, stability was. I needed something that I could go down a 4:1 slope with for checking holding ponds.

I have done this on a smaller atv (250) but it was a BIG pain, rack space was too small, and I had to be careful of where I went not to put it in too much of a bind. so I went for a large frame, large displacement atv.

probally any of the large bore atv's would have suited me, more or less, there was less seat room on the grizzly, the polaris dealer I could'nt deal with, & the prarie was a good choice for me.

I would like to see LARGER battery capacity in atv's, like the sportsman 700, I think that they have a 28 amp hour battery, mine has a 14, by the time you run winches, strobes, etc, you don't want the battery to run down. yes there is a solution for this, a external battery in the storage compartment. but it should have been given a little more thought, as these are BIG HEAVY machines that you can't lift, if you get in trouble..that was the only thing nice about the 250 cc ones.. I would like to see the start button on the right grip, so when I am holding a prism pole I can start it easily.

I like smooth power delivery, as I go over ditches with a survey instrument that does not like to be jostled about, hence the automatic.

I use it on about 3/4 of the jobs I do, it saves me time, and aggravation of making multiple trips to the same place.
as far as what it does not do well, I have yet to come across it. multiple riders do not use it, as far as extremes, I tread lightly, as I do not want to unduly disturb the terrain, it is a turn off for the client, and public, and sport, but if I need to go there I will.

as far as why I bought this model, cost was pretty competitive with other models, not that great of a deal, not brand loyal, I ride yamaha street bikes, so a kawasaki was a departure, looks were fair, but that was NOT the deciding factor, Marketing, well I asked a friend of mine who rides one what he thought about them, and all the other large bore atv's..I've known him for 25 years, and he has not told me wrong before.. so far I've been happy with it.

 

 

I make my living as an arborist. I've had a quad for about eight years and use it on almost every job. The first was a Honda TRX 350 which got worn out, then a Suzuki AR500 which got stolen. The S is a wonderful machine. Having the shifters up top was great. I added a handshifter since winter boots, Sorels, don't fit under the toe shifter. After putting the hand shifter on, no one on the crew used the tow, even in the summer. Now I have a Yamaha Kodiak which is OK but the S is my fav.

The Polaris ATV pickup model is on the right track. I like the optional flat deck on the rear. I could see the overloading the rear might be a problem. With a large load, the front will get light and steering will be compromised. How about adding a suspension lockout to take out the suspension travel. Or, make the suspension really stiff for large loads.

Use a 2" receiver hitch instead of the bolt on ball.

Hour meter AND odometer.

Someone already talked about body panel issues. That's a good point. I had to rebuild the carb on the Y. In order to get to the carb I had to dismantle half of the machine. Panelizing would be better. At least make the body panels lift off without having a bunch of hidden or inaccessible mounts.

Oil cooler standard. I'd prefer a water cooled motor.

Can a frame be built as a sheet instead of tubular? Combine a skid pan into the frame design. I realize that this might change the price point but it would make for a simpler machine.

Tom